Joshua's (Un-Nerfed) Abilities, and DV Application
- High-Frequency Form *
- Teleportation
- Levitation
- Flight
- Telekinesis
- "Jesus Beams" / Energy Beams of Holy Epicness
- Clairvoyance
- Resilience to Physical Attack
- Erasure **
- Telepathy
- Ability to Create Noise (From Negative Emotions)
- Mind-Rape / Memory Altering
- "Imprinting" / Suggestion / Influence
- Ability to Slow, Immobilize, etc.
- Elemental Control (Seen using Ice, Earth, and Fire in-game)
- Precognition / High Evasion
- Ability to Create Pins (Fighting Pins) ***
- Ability to Alter Physical Form ****
* His true form has such a high spiritual frequency that he has to alter his levels of power so that others, even others working for him, can see him. In-game it's suggested that only Hanekoma can see him in his true form. His level of power alters with the frequency level he lowers himself to. (Perhaps Thano could explain it better here.)
** He can implant a timer into the palm of someone's right hand and give them a mission. If they fail to complete it, they get erased. Enough said.
*** Fighting pins, in-game, are what give Neku his powers. Joshua creates them. At the Facility, however, only five of them work, unless the collars are black.
**** Does he LOOK 109 to you? Also, his Noise form is pretty damn deadly.
APPLICATION
Name: Kiryu, Yoshiya (“Joshua”)
Fandom: The World Ends With You
History link: http://twewy.wikia.com/wiki/Joshua
Most of the history from in-game is regarding the other characters. Since Joshua is the Composer, we know that he’s been dead awhile, leaving him with no true backstory, no family, time of death, or even age. Based on remarks in-game he made about the Realground being boring, I play him as having died through suicide (and his canon suicidal tendency is also the point of the Game; the Composer decides that Shibuya is dying, so he wants to get rid of it. Since he is Shibuya personified, it would mean killing himself, likely for the second/third time).
Age: Because his form in the “real world” is that of a fifteen year old boy, his body would be aged-up to an eighteen-year-old form. As I play him, he’s decades old, but his now-immortal body has not aged.
Canon point: Three years after Neku won the Game. He hasn’t changed much.
Personality: Game Manual Description: "It's quickly evident Joshua is beyond his fifteen years-as sly as they come. Unfortunately, his insufferably snotty attitude only serves to widen the gulf between him and Neku...”
Arrogant and condescending, Yoshiya is constantly playing games with both his friends and enemies. He is constantly giggling and rarely loses his temper. He speaks formally, and almost never swears. When he's not showing off his high level of intelligence and his refined tastes by exchanging information, he is teasing his friends. He doesn’t like to give straight answers, and favours half-truths and vague, cryptic answers. Charismatic and unfazed by any danger present to him, it's only on the rarest occasions that he ever seemed even mildly irritated or frustrated. He doesn't seem to show his emotions regarding anyone but himself, making him seem selfish and snotty even though it's clear that he tends to be a martyr. Even though he is incredibly prissy and has a serious attitude problem, he is extremely mature and can be very serious.
Despite his apparent disregard for others, he really is quite sensitive to whether the people around him are bitter or not. There's a great deal of evidence that shows that he's incredibly lonely and solemn, especially on the job. He is almost incapable of showing bias, and therefore, of making friends. Beneath the mask of arrogant, calculating, unbiased coldness, he can be selfless, patient, and if you catch him on a rare occasion, very gentle.
Powers/Abilities: While in-game, Joshua’s powers include telepathy, telekinesis, levitation, the ability to teleport and fly, and control of fire and ice, the fact that he is the Composer means that his powers are virtually limitless. He has skilled healing powers, including the power to resurrect people from the dead (a power he only uses in his Game). He can build walls that are invisible except when they’re touches, in which case they appear to be a honeycomb-like, transparent texture. These walls are indestructible. He can manipulate Noise, creatures not unlike Heartless, which stem from negative energy. He has the Noise form of a dragon. He has wings, though these are never seen in-game, because the Composer form is only seen in pieces. Joshua has the ability to alter the vibrations of someone’s Soul to fit the music that he hears, and this ability can give them powers, as is seen in-game with Players using their Psychs.
Unfortunately, Joshua is also a little lazy and doesn’t enjoy physical effort. He’s small and thin and wouldn’t be able to hold his own in a physical fight. If caught off-guard, he’d be utterly defenseless, and his laid-back personality can sometimes make it too easy to catch him.
Prose sample: The past three years had not, by any means, left the Composer with a day off. Death took no holidays, and Joshua had to maintain a steady grip on his beloved city, whether there was a celebration to be held or not. He knew better than most, for too many reasons, that the balance of life and death needed to be held strong, even...no, especially...on the normal day. Neku’s Game had saved his city, but even years later, Joshua had no regrets.
Waking up in a new city was disconcerting at best. Joshua’s Soul was bound to Shibuya; he shouldn’t have been alive outside of her boundaries. Something was different. As the Composer looked down at his hands and ran his fingers through lengthened hair, he couldn’t help but feel that the planes had crunched in around him. His older Composer form had merged with the fifteen year old boy he appeared as on the Realground.
Perhaps he would have been afraid if he wasn’t so utterly fascinated. A change that couldn’t be helped? A stranger in a strange land? It was full of possibilities, and Joshua was excited as well as unnerved. His frustration was pushed aside, for now.
He located Loki’s little welcome gift quickly. After reading and re-reading the letter a few times, his beaming face darkened. Of course there would always be terms and conditions, to any Game. Loki was no Composer, and this Game was poorly conducted. If nothing else, Joshua could see that much. Joshua twisted a finger into a lock of silver hair, his eyes cast into shadow.
And he listened. Keen ears picked out the city’s notes, and they were distorted, poorly organized, a cacophony of voices and cries straining to be heard. It was a different kind of discord from Shibuya. Joshua didn’t particularly like it. In the back of his mind, he held fast to the memory of Shibuya’s music, almost out of childish fear that it would vanish if he let it go.
His emotional wounds had yet to heal. He doubted they ever would. Still, even years later, he was able to recognize Neku Sakuraba’s personal music among the straining chords of this insane city. If that were the case, he’d have to find him. He heard music that was unrecognizable, but past that, he could sense that there wasn’t much outside of this city. It could easily have been another parallel universe. With that in mind, the Composer relaxed. If Loki had merely brought him into another dimension, Shibuya would be safe.
He stared out the window, violet eyes struggling to focus on a distant billboard. These were the achievements? So, Joshua would have to whore himself out just to stay alive. That, too, was disconcerting at best. Then again, if Neku was here, at least he’d have someone he knew he could trust. Even after three years, the concept of trusting one’s partner should not have faded. Joshua doubted his ex-proxy would have made it through week one alive if the bonds of partnership were so week.
If this is what it took to stay alive in this city, that was just fine with him. The Game was on.
Links:
Joshua in Composer Mode and in a rare fit of rage:
http://community.livejournal.com/a_facility/1876715.html
Joshua giving one of his history lessons:
http://community.livejournal.com/a_facility/1884878.html